Blessings and the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I can't believe that the triplets are 11 months old today. I am having a hard time grasping the idea that time has gone by this quickly. Maybe it is the sleep deprivation or just the chaos of every day life, but somehow, I feel like I have missed things....like the last 11 months! As I sit back and watch the boys playing right now, I can't help but think about all the blessings that I have in my life. My wonderful husband, my kids, my family, my friends. Those come first and foremost when I think of blessings. Then I move to health - mine and that of my kids and family - even with the colds and ear problems we are very lucky.

Christmas has always been a very special time of the year for me. It has always been about family and remembering all the good times. The last couple of Christmas seasons have been hard for me without my Dad. This was his FAVORITE holiday and his excitement about it was infectious. This was also the time of the year when he and I spent tons of time together. I would work with him over holiday breaks and we would plot and plan gifts for my mom. He played the role of Santa and I got to be the elf. They are memories that mean even more to me now that he is gone. Having those memories make it even more important for me to start making memories for my kids - even as small as they are. I want them to remember the holidays with as much excitement and laughter as I do.

Quick boys update - Graham is now walking with pretty steady legs. He still prefers to crawl because it is quicker but he is walking more and more. Here is a shot from his first attempts - Chase was super excited for him!

We started this season off with Chase's Christmas program at school. This is the first year he has been at a preschool where we got to be involved like this and what a blast! Chase and I practiced his class song J-E-S-U-S (sung to the tune of BINGO) for weeks. We practiced in the car, over the phone in front of different people just to make sure we would get it right. Well, the big night arrived and we surprised Chase to his great delight when my brother and his wife and kids showed up. Chase was over the moon and had a hard time concentrating on his part of the program once he saw his cousins!

We continued the festivities by getting our “Charlie Brown” Christmas tree. We have 2 trees in our house – a fake tree downstairs with all my expensive ornaments my Mom and Dad gave me over the years safely hidden in the front room and gated off. Then we have Charlie. We always get a small (less than 4 feet) live tree to put upstairs so that Chase can help decorate and enjoy a tree and its’ lights and decorations at night. This year we kept trying to figure out how to keep the tree safe from the triplets so we decided that the top of Rokky’s crate might just be the best place. So up it went! Here is a picture of the boys helping me put on the lights.

When looking at the logistics of the holiday, we realized that there was no feasible way to try to see everyone and open gifts and celebrate the day all in one 24 hour period. So plans were made and schedules created – you do remember triplets right? I LIVE on a schedule! It went something like this – Wednesday, Dec. 21 Meme and Popi come up from Winston to celebrate. Saturday, Dec. 24^th – Grandma, Mom-mom and Pop-pop came over in the morning to celebrate. Saturday, Dec. 24^th – evening Jason and I do our little exchange after the boys go to sleep. Sunday, Dec. 25^th – After seeing what Santa brought them, we leave the house at 8:30 AM with all kids in tow to drive to Winston to join the Liner family Christmas brunch and White Elephant exchange. Leave there at 2:00 pm to drive to Nana’s house to visit with her for a little while and do a gift exchange with cousin Milo. Arrive home that night and after dinner open gifts from Mom/Dad and brothers. Monday, Dec. 26^th – gift exchange with cousins Bise and Meredith. Tuesday, Dec. 27^th – gift exchange with Nana. Whew! I am tired all over again when I read this. No wonder the kids are all a little extra sleepy and crazed all at the same time.

Here is our Christmas Eve picture just before bed:

When I look back at this Christmas of firsts I can’t help but stop and think that this really is the most wonderful time of the year. While I honestly do try to stop and give thanks for all I have been blessed without throughout the year, it is in this special time of the year that it all hits home for me. Even with the loss of loved ones (I still struggle with the loss of my Dad), I am finally realizing that while it is okay to miss them, you still have to move on and make new memories for those who are still around. So I say to one and all, I really do hope that you had a Merry Christmas and that all your blessings are as wonderful as mine are! Here is to another fun and adventure-filled year. Time to welcome 2012 and all the opportunities it has in store for us.

Day of Firsts.....

Let the record reflect that today Jack cut THE first tooth (of all the boys) and Graham took his first real steps (as in 4-5 steps with control). We will work on getting the video posted but all I have to say is, uh-oh! Jack isn't even crawling yet and Graham is trying to walk....I don't think I am ready for all this!

10 months and giving Thanks.....

Where has the time gone? Thanksgiving was followed with the 10 month birthday of the triplets. I can't believe how time has passed so quickly and how many changes have come and gone since they were born. Let me do a quick update on each one:

Jack - is showing no sign of crawling. He is perfectly content to sit where he is, watch the world go on around him and have his brothers bring him different toys. Unfortunately, he has spent the last couple of months battling an ear infection. We have done oral antibiotics, oral and ear drop antibiotics and back again with no luck. As the infection raged on, his attitude stayed better than we could have imagined. Even though we tried our best with the meds, they didn't do the job so we went with 3 days of injections and added a visit to the ENT on top of that. After being tortured with all this, the infections seem to have gone away and JACK IS BACK! He is laughing, clapping, shrieking and smiling all the time. I can only hope that it doesn’t come back and he can stay healthy now. Still no teeth!

Jack being Jack....just chillin'

Graham – aka Dragon. While I love him dearly, if he doesn’t get where he wants or what he wants, he isn’t afraid to express his displeasure. He does this by throwing his head back and shrieking. It is mind-boggling to say the least. The good news is that because he is the smallest, he also is crawling, climbing and cruising along furniture which makes him happy. Unfortunately, Chase isn’t too pleased with this development since Graham always wants to be where Chase is and to have whatever it is that Chase has. And as with Jack, no teeth!

Graham in the stare down - he'll beat you every time

Anthony – miles of smiles. He has joined Graham in the realm of the mobile and is pulling up on things but hasn’t quite figured out how to get down once he stands up. He loves to follow Graham, who follows Chase which makes for an interesting game of cat and mouse, especially when Rokky decides to get into the mix! And, as with the other part of this trio, no teeth!

Miles of smiles from Anthony 

Chase – still loving school and we love listening to everything he learns and all he has to tell me when I pick him up. He has learned a prayer at school that has become a staple at our house before meals. We will try to get it on video and upload it to the blog so you can really appreciate it. Typing it just won’t do it justice. He is an amazing big brother even when he is being tormented by the little ones. He is trying to find the delicate balance between playing and punishing them. Ah, boys will be boys!

Chase with his goofy grin

As for Thanksgiving, we had a week of family time and love. A visit by Popi (Jason’s dad) started the week, Thanksgiving Day brought Grandma (my mom), Matt, Jennifer and the kids and we finished with a visit from Nana (Jason’s mom). While we took some time to reflect on those we have lost (both human and canine), we also took time to remember just how thankful we are for all that we have. We have 4 healthy boys, great family and friends and an amazing relationship with each other. Although we don’t say it to each of you enough, please know that we are always counting our blessings and saying “Thank you” for everything that everyone has done for us.

From our family to yours.....Thank you!

Here's Halloween....and what we are doing now

Our family trip to the pumpkin patch

I sent out a snapfish album with some pictures that included Halloween but since is the only journal that I have to include written comments here it goes. We got skunk outfits for the triplets after Halloween last year while I was still pregnant. Chase had one from my nephew as well so done. The boys were still in utero and Halloween was done! We started at Jason's office on the Friday before and pulled the boys in their wagon. Poor little guys were like stuffed animals and couldn't move. Hence the unhappy looks.

They were literally crammed in. It worked fairly well for dragging them around the office.

We were going to go to the YMCA for a trunk or treat but it was so cold that we bailed and figured they could make their next appearance on Monday. Well Monday came, it was still cold which we knew we could handle but then came the rain! Well, we were not going to miss out so we decided that every adult would be responsible for a child (or two). We go to Matt and Jennifer's neighborhood because it is full of young families and much more user friendly than ours is. So off went the Herd of Skunks, the Watermelon and Darth Vader - of course every adult had a golf umbrella to keep the kids dry. The irony is that the big boys (and Meredith) didn't even care about the rain and when we took our pause to drop off the babies with Matt and myself at his house, the next round was even better! The kids made out like bandits and I am still trying to figure out how to get rid of this candy so that I stop eating it every time Chase does!

Cousins - Chase, Meredith, Bise,  Anthony, Graham, Jack

My little stinkers - Chase, Anthony, Graham, Jack (pre trick-or-treating)

Of course things went fairly well considering that all the triplets had ear infections. Since then we have all recovered nicely and got good reports at their 9 month check up. Everyone is growing like a weed and people ask me all the time if I am feeding them crisco (they are little plump fellows these days which makes them even more fun to squeeze and hug!).


Jason and I went to the ND-Wake game last weekend and head to D.C. this weekend for the ND-Maryland game this weekend and I am appreciating all the help with the boys so I can have some real adult time. I have to admit while I love these guys endlessly, I was in need of some serious kid-free time. Last weekend gave me a nice break and some renewed energy to face the next few months and I feel like this weekend will be the final push that will help me survive the holidays. In looking at the white board where I write down upcoming events, I am almost out of space and will have to start a new column pretty soon. Not sure how I will manage but somehow I will. One day at time, keep looking forward, don't think too hard about how challenging it is (and will continue to be) and appreciate the little moments that catch me off-guard. That may be my new mantra.

Today was picture day at Chase's preschool and they allowed siblings to come in too. I can't wait to see how the pictures turned out. I had all the boys in their red pants with cream sweaters. The triplets sweaters were hand-made by a friend of my Mom's and they are amazing! If nothing else, I will have to get some pictures of them myself to post so you can see the cute factor that I was dealing with.

A few pictures

I just sent out a snapfish link to some pictures but thought that I would post just a couple here along with a more recent update. What is new in our house?

1. Chase is nearing the end of his first soccer season (with me as the coach!) and he LOVES it. I can't believe how good he has gotten over the last few weeks. His confidence is getting higher and in the last game he scored 6 goals - although technically we don't keep score at the YMCA!

Getting ready for soccer

2. Graham has been crawling for about a month now and is pulling up on EVERYTHING he can get his hands on. He is about 2 months ahead of Chase in this arena and I am already tired of telling him to stay away from ______ (insert a location here!). I am starting to panic at the thought of Anthony and Jack joining him. Anthony is just starting to crawl for short distances while Jack is kinda happy just sitting around and watching the madness.

Anthony

Jack

Graham

 

3. Chase is finishing his 2nd month of preschool and he LOVES it as well. It is also through the YMCA and his teachers are amazing. He loves going and I love listening to him tell me about his day and what he and his friends did today.

Chase 3 year picture taken by Mike Smith

4. Rokky is still around! With the way the last 6 months have taken a toll on our pets, I honestly wasn't sure how Rokky would react to being an only dog. While he is a little more watchful of where I go, he seems to be doing okay and adjusting.

Graham and Rokky

5. We took our first BIG trip away from home with the boys and survived. It went better than either Jason or I could have imagined which makes us more willing to think about doing it again in the future!

Graham, Anthony, Jack (L-R)

No, these aren't our Halloween costumes! J, G, C, A (l-r)

We are getting geared up for Halloween so I will try to get pictures and little post up sooner rather than later.

Where has the time gone?

I just looked at the blog and realized that we haven't updated it since the end of August! I know that I think about updating it all the time but then something, or rather, someone, needs my attention and that fleeting thought leaves just as quickly as it came. So what have we been up to since then....let me try to recap:

We got organized for the start of preschool for Chase. He is attending preschool Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings from 9-12:30 through the YMCA and really enjoys it. But I get ahead of myself. Before school started, we took a week to spend some time at the beach, yes, all of us! Most people who know me assume that I started packing a week or two ahead of time and trust me, I really wanted to. However, the catch with having triplets is that while you need to pack a lot of stuff, you also need that stuff on a daily basis so I actually didn't start packing until after the boys went to bed on Friday night for our Saturday morning departure because everything I needed to pack was still being used up until that point, toys, bottles, bowls, wipes, clothes - you get the picture! Needless to say it took us 2 cars to make this happen - remember - TRIPLETS - which means 3 pack and plays, high chairs, car seats, walkers...again, not hard to envision all this stuff needing 2 cars to make it. Somehow we managed to get everything packed and headed out after breakfast on Saturday morning. With just one stop for bottles (and some play time for Chase) we made it in 4 hours - actual drive time is 3) and began to unload. Cue the circus music! We really did look like a 3 ring circus getting all the kids, stuff and goodies out of the cars. We made it though and that was the point! We had a great time at the beach, even though all 3 babies got sick - head colds, cough and Jack had a pretty serious fever but we survived. Chase got some serious running done on the beach and wore himself out everyday which was GREAT. A quick story about that: The first night we are there, we decide to take a family walk on the beach - all of us. So we pile all the boys in the jogger strollers and head out. We hit the beach and Chase says he wants to run, we say go for it. And he literally does - run that is! He runs, and runs, and runs until he is about 1/2 mile ahead of us. And the kid never looked back! We kept referencing Forrest Gump because we felt like that is what we were watching in person - Run Chase, Run! I don't think I have laughed that hard in a LONG time. It got to the point that people on the beach were jogging with him or behind him because they weren't sure who he belonged to. Ultimately, Jason caught up with him when he paused long enough to talk to a guy and his kids who were playing in the surf. Too funny....I wish I had a video camera to capture that moment. Anyway, that set the tone for the trip and a good time was had by all.

We packed up and headed home to enjoy a couple days of getting back to a routine before Chase officially started school. He loves it and his teachers and it gives everyone a little break. I think the boys miss him when he is gone. Graham just cried and cried today when we dropped Chase off at school. They are 'seat buddies' so when Chase leaves, Graham is by himself and I think he got lonely. When Chase isn't at school, we go to the YMCA so he can play, the babies can socialize and I can have some time too. That seems to be our routine for the most part with the occasional play date here and there.

The babies and all sitting up - Anthony still wobbles a little bit but Graham is really solid and Jack is getting the hang of it. Graham will get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth but hasn't quite figured out that if he moves his arms and legs while there, he can move a lot quicker than scooting around like he is doing now. All the boys love being in the walkers/exersaucers and prefer that over being held which is nice for all of us. We rotate through the toys all day long - that is when we aren't feeding. They are eating bottle when they wake up, cereal and fruit about 1 hour later, morning bottle, lunch of cereal, vegetable and fruit, afternoon bottle, dinner or cereal vegetable and fruit and bedtime bottle. I am hoping to drop the mid-morning bottle and replace it with juice and snack here soon.

What is happening elsewhere? Well, I decided with all my free time that I would be the volunteer coach for Chase's micro soccer team at the YMCA this fall. We meet Monday and Wednesday afternoons from 4:15 - 5:00 which means that I will be hovering at the nursery when it opens at 4:15 to drop off the triplets so I can race over to the field to coach Chase and then race back to get the triplets home to feed them dinner. Hey, I have nothing but time! Chase is really excited about it though which is all that matters to me. Being a mom means putting your free time and preferences on hold and doing for your kids. The house might not be as clean, or laundry done as frequently, but Chase will be having fun and a new experience which is what matters to me.

It is actually time for the boys to get lunch so we can pack up again and get Chase from preschool so I will end here. I will try to come back soon and add some pictures. Until the next post, so long from Crazy Central!

7 Months and a Major Milestone....

I can't begin to believe that the triplets are 7 months old today. It seems like just yesterday that I was counting down the days until their arrival and now 7 months have passed and I feel like I have missed it all! The other major milestone in the house is that Chase is moving into a big boy bed! I am trying to make sure that I document some of the big things that happen so when I look back when they are older, I can really remember who did what and when!

Let's start here:

Graham can sit up on his own for periods of time but is still a little wobbly when he forgets to focus on what he is doing. He tends to lean forward and end up on his stomach when that happens and then he just decides to stay where he is instead of trying to sit back up.

Jack and Anthony are sitting, kind of. Anthony has more patience and is willing to try if I let him sit in between my legs but Jack really has no use for it at all. He was the same way when it came to rolling over from his back to his belly. He has the skill but he has figured out that if he just waits, Graham and Anthony will 'toss' toys his way and he can stay where he is!

All 3 are eating solids with 2 meals now. Two bottles in the morning, cereal and fruit at lunch, afternoon bottle, cereal and vegetable at dinner and bottle at bedtime. I am going to start giving another round of cereal in morning and possibly add a fruit at dinner but that just seems like so much work right now! However, with Chase starting preschool in a couple of weeks, I need to get this figured out so I can get out of the house and him to preschool on time. Not sure how that is going to work, but I don't have much of an option in this now do I?

Boys are sleeping really well. They usually go down between 7:30-8:00 PM and Graham starts to stir around 6:30-6:45 AM with Jack and Anthony waking shortly thereafter. Chase has been getting up closer to 7:45-8:00 AM with a bedtime around 8:00 PM (since he has decided he no longer wants to take a nap!)

We get out of the house and go to the YMCA 4-5 times a week. The boys (little ones) go to the nursery and Chase goes to the playhouse while I either go to Zumba, a spin class or just walk outside or on the treadmill. While it isn't easy getting us all loaded, unloaded, loaded and unloaded again, the time is worth it for ALL of us! Chase enjoys playing with kids. The triplets like the different surroundings and the staff who spoil them and I enjoy, no NEED, the time for just me!

Hopefully Chase will adjust to his new sleeping arrangements with no problem. He has started to make comments in the last few weeks about getting bigger and almost not fitting in his crib anymore. I took that as a sign that he may be ready. We started by not having his moon/stars mobile over the crib when he fell asleep. For a long time, if the moon didn't play, he couldn't fall asleep. When the batteries died and I didn't have any replacements, it was the perfect chance to see how he would do without it. He only asked about it once and has done just fine since. With that being said, I set out on the search for the perfect big boy bedding. I really didn't want to have to paint his room another color so when my Mom found this set, we were in luck! She bought the turtle as a 'surprise' for his new bed and it was a HIT! The turtle's name is Yertle. Why Yertle you may ask? Because we have a floor puzzle with Yertle the Turtle from Dr. Seuss that he loves to do and it was the first thing that came to mind when we asked him what the turtle's name was. Oh, the mind of a child!

Next week we head to the beach with all the kids...I am sure that will be a week full of stories to share, and possibly some not to be shared! I will be sure to post pictures that we take there and try to capture the boys' first reactions to sand and ocean. They all love the pool but the salt water could be a different story. For now, here are some recent pictures of our big boys!


Getting ready for bath time - G, A, J, C




Jack playing in the bouncy chair




Anthony laughing at who knows what....he is always smiling it seems!



Graham in his favorite position - on his tummy!



Chase on his new big boy bed with Yertle

Another loss of man's best friend...Captain this time.

Well, this long week comes to an end with some bad news…that Captain has moved on to doggy-heaven to run and play, pain free, with Champion and others. Captain lived more than 8 ½ really happy years, and for a Great Dane, 8 ½ is pretty good.

For those not in the loop lately, Captain has been showing his age more and more. Getting around had become much more cumbersome for him in the past few months. His issues were in his back more than his hips (which many giant breed dogs have difficulty with). He struggled to go up steps, and even more than struggled going down them. While he would occasionally show flashes of excitement and try to run a little in the back yard, those times had dwindled greatly in the past few weeks. We tried steroid injections but even those had stopped giving him any relief. He’s just been in constant discomfort and hasn’t been showing his “happy” eyes at all. Over the past few days, it got dramatically worse and he’d reached a point that we decided it was time for him to get some relief.

Here is a series of pictures (and words) that tell Captain’s story…fun for me to recap and recollect. It brings back many memories of the big dog that I will never forget.

Around mid-2001, after thinking about getting a dog for quite some time, and having an interest in Great Danes, I got a few books to read about Great Danes. One of them called The Great Dane, Model of Nobility was written by a lady named Jill Swedlow. In the back of the book, it listed some resources, including Jill's email address. I emailed her explaining that I was looking for a reputable breeder for a pet Dane. She introduced me to a lady named Lorraine Rainwater. I spoke with Lorraine by phone. She seemed to be the expert resource on Great Danes and had obviously been raising and showing Great Danes for a long time. While I had no desire to actually get into showing dogs, I did have a desire for a good tempered and healthy Dane for a pet. Lorraine lived somewhere out west, I believe maybe in Phoenix, Arizona, so she put me in contact with a very reputable breeder on the East Coast…a lady named Cindy Niske. Cindy and her husband Glenn lived outside of Columbia, SC and raised and bred Danes. I called Cindy, and after a little phone tag, we finally connected about noon on September 11th, 2001. As the events began unfolding that fateful morning, I had left the office to go home and just watch TV and absorb the tragedy. My phone rang about noon and I answered to talk to this lady I’d never spoken to before. Almost three hours later, I felt like Cindy was part of my family. She was the sweetest, most genuine stranger I’d ever spoken to and now she was like another mom to me! I got a thorough education on Great Danes, but more importantly, Cindy and I got to know each other very well. As I later found out, part of placing a championship quality dog, even if the buyer isn’t going to show that dog, is getting to know the owner and feeling good about the relationship. Cindy and I both felt good about our new relationship. I knew I’d one day get a Great Dane from Cindy.
Cindy and I kept in touch, and on Sunday, December 1st, 2002 (more than a year later), Cindy’s female (Hallie) gave birth to a litter of 7 pups. On the following Saturday, Cindy broke every breeder rule possible and allowed me to come visit the 6 day old pups. When I say “visit”, I don’t mean see the puppies and maybe hold one or two for a few minutes. I mean climb into the birthing box (or whatever you call it) and lay in there with these puppies and their mother for hours. At the time, I didn’t know which puppy I would end up with, or even if I would get a puppy from this litter. My Mom had gone with me and literally we spent half the day sitting in the “litter box” with Cindy, Hallie and these 7 baked-potato sized 6-day old puppies. With 2 girls (Pink & Purple) and 5 boys (Baby Blue, Royal Blue, Red, Yellow and Green), they wore collars of different colors to tell them apart. The yellow collared boy would ultimately be my little Captain!

Hallie (Captain’s Mom)



















Ray (Captain’s Dad)


















Group Picture at 6 days old…note the beer bottles…literally, we sat and played with puppies all day!


















Litter feeding at 6 days old…yes, that’s Captain in front, being cleaned by Hallie


















Captain at 6 days old

















I drove back down to Cindy’s two weeks later (pups were 20 days old) and played with them again all day!

Captain already picked me out and started chewing on my pant-leg while we played.













Here Captain and Jackson (I think) were eyeing Hallie for their next meal.














After a meal, Captain came back to my lap to rest and win me over.


















Even though you can only see 6 puppy heads, I was actually holding all 7 here (count the bodies).























Captain already had begun to march to the beat of a different drummer


















At 5 weeks, I made another trip. By now, the litter was getting much bigger…seriously, only 5 weeks old!
Captain lost his collar, but that’s him.














At 11 weeks, I made yet another trip to Columbia, SC…this time to pick up Captain and bring him home with me.
Captain was ready to go!


















Hallie was finally able to relax on the couch without puppies jumping all over her.














After the 4+ hour drive back to Raleigh, Captain hit the ground running, literally. No sooner than we could get home, it started to snow and Captain was ready to play!
Captain at his new home.













Captain on the couch, finally relaxing.
















He explored the snow outside























We were pooped from all the running around.


















Captain grew… (Feb 20th)























And grew… (March 10th)























And grew… (March 20th)




















And grew… (April 6th)
















On April 29th, he gave Uncle Rob a hug for his birthday!























Did I mention he kept growing? This was May 10th, barely 5 months old.















No matter how big he got, he still thought he was a lap dog!





















He was almost embarrassed to be SO big!























At six month old (June 6th), Captain truly looked like a show dog.





















Captain went everywhere with me. This was in Greensboro visiting Big Mike and Rose. He was giving good-bye hugs, but realized I wasn't leaving him.























Somehow, he thought he actually fit in this recliner.




















He often came to work with me in the old days when dogs were allowed at work. He laid outside of my office door showing off, knowing that someone would come pet him.


















He came for the trick-or-treating fun at Halloween.


















He didn't dress up, but he definitely wanted to eat the hot dog (Gretel). Gretel is the reason that dogs are no longer allowed at work!


















He went to Winston for Christmas where Uncle Marc gave him a SciQuest (SQST) sweater to keep warm.




















He tried to get a kiss from Lindsey under the mistletoe.























He ran in the snow a few days after Christmas (also in Winston).




















And generally just showed off every chance he got!



















He went on the whitewater rafting trip in the WV mountains with me.


















He wanted to drive everywhere!


















In September 2005, he bloated and scared me to death. They shaved him big-time for the surgery.


















He had the scars (and staples to prove it).


















In no time, he recovered well and was out running around again.























He was still mischievous and loved to chew and tear things up.























Sometimes it was just more damage than others. I still have no idea why I had a box full of SciQuest bags in the garage, but Captain made quick work of them when he found them.


















As Captain aged, he began to relax a little more and really just wanted a comfy couch to lay on.


















Or a sunny day to lay around in the yard outside.


















It's too bright in here...turn out the lights!


















Melissa brought two dogs into the marriage, so Captain had to learn to share his couch...


















And sometimes even his bed...


















He never really understood that he couldn't share the crate.


















He loved to be rubbed, even if it was with a shedding glove.























He wasn't the best athlete, but he loved to watch Champion play with the ball. Captain just chased Champion around and bit at his tail.
















And finally a few of my favorite pictures of Captain from over the years...

















































































































































Rest in peace Big Dog. You will be missed!